GIHS MEETINGS

5th October - Observations on the Thames,
Over 59 slides of the working Thames shown and discussed by
artist/ author and local resident Terry Scales. Don't miss
viewing this unique historical collection, a record of what
the Thames once was and what we must fight to preserve.

9th November (Tuesday) - Ron Roffey, on the
RACS Museum in Woolwich (correction)

11th January 2000 - Annual General Meeting
followed by Jack Vaughan on Woolwich Arsenal

8th February 2000 - Hugh Lyon on Greenwich and
Woolwich Tunnels and Ferries

14th March 2000 - Dr.Rodney Dobson (Hon. Research
Fellow Goldsmiths College) on Early Labour Troubles on
the Thames

All meetings at 7.30pm East Greenwich Community Centre,
Christchurch Way, SE10

STRING OF PEARLS - MILLENNIUM FESTIVAL

This is yet another 'programme of activity' to be
organised in the area by an apparently independent body. It
is "an invitation to the nation's treasurers along the
River Thames".

The programme lists out riverside events between Kew and
Greenwich. Locally it lists Shipwright's Palace,
Deptford (no details), Royal Naval College (no
details), National Maritime Museum (Story of Time
Exhibition, Millennium Night Event) and English
Heritage (no details).

Vast amounts of detail are given for everywhere else! It
also seems to be a pity they have run out of contacts east
of the Naval College.

DO GO - to Christchurch Forum to see, in the
foyer, the old clock miraculously restore by our Chair, Jack
Vaughan. The original hands can now be seen from the street.
There was an 'opening' ceremony in June - with the Deputy
Mayor.

AN APOLOGY...

Nearly forty members crowded into East Greenwich
Community Centre in June to see Wesley Harry's films of
Woolwich Arsenal .. and waited .. and waited. We
understand that Wesley was taken ill on the way to the
meeting, was taken to hospital and was unable to contact
anyone to tell us what had happened. Our apologies - and
best wishes to Wesley. We hope to arrange a film evening
some time next year.

THAMES WATER'S
CROSSNESS SEWAGE SLUDGE INCINERATOR

In June (1999) the Newcomen Society organised a visit to
the new Sewage Sludge Incinerator at Crossness.
Bruce Blissett went along: ..

For many years sewage sludge was transported from the Beckton and
Crossness sewage works in specially designed ships to be dumped in
the North Sea but in order to comply with EU legislation, this method
of disposal had to cease by December 1998. Three alternative methods
of disposal were considered and these were:

Distribution on agricultural land as fertilizer

Dumping at approved land-fill sites

Incineration with energy recovery

Thames Water found that incineration with energy recovery was the
most acceptable and practical option although about 40% of sewage
sludge is still sold for use as a soil fertilizer.

In 1994, the local authorities gave approval for incinerators to
be built at the Beckton and Crossness works. Her Majesty's
Inspectorate of Pollution (now the Environment Agency) authorized
Thames Water to operate such incinerators and, in the same year, an
AMEC-Lurgi consortium won the £125 million contract to design,
construct and commission the two incinerators. The Crossness plant
was opened by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh on 4th November 1998.

THE PROCESS

(i) Sludge Preparation

Raw sewage sludge is blended in the approximate ratio 70:30 with
surface-activated sludge (processed sewage sludge which has been
oxidised biologically and therefore has a reduced calorific value). A
polymeric electrolyte is dissolved in water and added to promote
flocculation and allow de-watering to a dry solids content of 4.5%.
The precipitated sludge is then forced through large vertical plate
filter presses where the solids are trapped and further de-watered by
pressurising the filter with compressed air. The target total solids
content of the sludge cake prior to incineration is about 32%.

At the end of the de-watering process, each filter plate is
separated in turn allowing the cake to fall into a hopper and on to a
conveyor which transfers it to the sludge cake silo from which it is
fed at a controlled rate into the incinerator.

(ii) Incineration

The incinerator consists of a large diameter squat form cylinder
above which a large diameter tube carries the burning cake upwards
and onto the boilers.

Hot sand is contained at the bottom of the incinerator and air is
forced into and drawn through the sand with a pressure drop of 90
millibars. The incinerator is maintained below atmospheric pressure
by means of a fan situated downstream of the boilers. Sludge cake
mixes with the hot sand which promotes combustion by heating it and
increasing the surface area of the cake exposed to air.

Combustion temperatures at sand level are about 850°C rising
to 950°C at the very top of the incinerator. Ideally, the cake
should burn and ascend from the sand to the boiler inlet in three
seconds. These conditions are necessary to ensure that any dioxins
coming from the burning sludge are destroyed. It may be necessary to
burn additional natural gas in the incinerator in order to maintain
combustion at this temperature. If raw sewage only were incinerated,
no additional fuel gas would be needed.

(iii) Steam and Electricity Generation

Following the sludge cake incineration, the combustion products
pass through two boilers arranged in series; the first of these
raises steam at a temperature in excess of 400°C to supply
turbine driven alternators while the second boiler generates steam at
150°C for reheating the chimney stack gases.

(iv) Ash, Heavy Metals and Dust Removal

Combustion products emerging from the second boiler are cooled
rapidly before entering a cyclone where the ash falls to the bottom
of the cylinder for disposal while the remaining gases pass on
through a bed of activated lignite coke which absorbs heavy metals
such as mercury and any remaining traces of dioxins. Dust remaining
in the flue gases is removed by passing the gas through bag filters
which are periodically emptied automatically with compressed air. The
ash, spent lignite coke and dust from the bag filters are bulked and
disposed of in licenced land-fill sites.

(v) Removal of Acid Vapours

Acids are removed in two chambers arranged in series. In the first
chamber, which is rubber lined, acid vapours such as those of
hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, oxides of nitrogen (and
presumably phosphorus) are washed out by a water spray. The gases
then ascend a second gas scrubbing chamber where they are scrubbed
with effluent water and sodium hydroxide to maintain a pH value at
the bottom of the chamber of 7.5. This second chamber removes any
remaining acids including most of the sulphurous acid (sulphur
dioxide).

(vi) Analysis and Dispersal of the Cleaned Flue Gases

The cleaned flue gases are reheated with a steam heat-exchanger
[see (iii) above] before they are discharged to the
atmosphere so that no plume from the top of the chimney stack is
visible. Heating the flue gases also causes them to be carried higher
into the air by convection so that they will disperse at a higher
level and over a larger area.

Certain constituents of the flue gases such as hydrocarbons are
continuously monitored while others, such as dioxins, are measured
periodically by independent laboratories from flue gas samples.
Officers from the Environment Agency are allowed free access to
sample the flue gases and to inspect the plant at any time without
notice.

THE PLANT

The entire incineration plant is housed in an unusual and
attractive metal clad building with an outward curving side and an
S-shaped roof. The chimney at the north end has a convex curved side
and although the plant was fully operational, no plume of smoke or
steam could be seen coming from it. At the Crossness plant, two
parallel sludge incineration lines produce 6 Mega-Watts of power
which is sufficient to drive the entire sewage works but at Beckton
three incinerators produce a surplus of electricity which is sold to
the National Grid.

Visitors are given a short talk to explain the process before
issuing them with hard protective hats for a tour of the plant.
During the tour the only time the sludge cake can be seen is when it
falls, after filtration, from the separated filter plates into a
hopper below. At this point a man, with an implement resembling a
long handled spade, dislodges any cake still clinging to the filter
plates or remaining in the interconnecting holes.

Almost everything inside the plant seems to be constructed from or
encased in galvanized metal. Most floors are made from an open metal
mesh which allows through-floor visibility and good ventilation but
which made me thankful for the protective hat.

After being shown the flue gas monitoring equipment, the tour
ended in the control room from where temperatures, pressures and the
general operating status of the entire plant can be monitored and
controlled from computer terminals. The engineer demonstrating the
computer software and who fielded in detail so many technical
questions had soiling on one side of his overalls but nobody dared
ask what it might be.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My grateful thanks go to Malcolm Tucker for his help in completing
this account.

Bruce Bissett

Here is a flow diagram of the plant...

BLACKWALL POINT POWER
STATION

Dear Editor...

I understand from a previous issue that all the records relating
to the Blackwall Point Power station had been destroyed. I presumed
that this meant that not too much was known about the power station
and therefore I decided to have a look at the literature. I could
only find a few mentions of Blackwall Point and I have attempted to
put some words on these facts ......

Blackwall Point Power Station was equipped with three 30 mw turbo
alternators supplied by the English Electric Company. The steam
conditions at the turbine stop valves were 60 psig and 850°F
(454°C). Condenser cooling water was taken from the River. Steam
was supplied by three coal-fired Babcock and Wilcox boilers, each of
365 klb/hr capacity and the main high pressure pipework was also
manufactured by Babcock and Wilcox.

The first turbo-alternator set was commissioned in the summer of
1951, the second was due to be completed by the end of that year and
the third by the spring of 1952.

Blackwall Point was originally in the London Division of the
British Electricity Authority (BEA). This later became the Central
Electricity Authority (CEA) to avoid confusion with the other BEA -
British European Airways. A further name change to the Central
Electricity Generating Board followed and Blackwall Point power
station was put into its South Thames Division.

To benefit the production of turbines and generators BEA had a
policy of standardising on a selected range of turbo-alternator sizes
each with associated steam conditions. 30 mw was one of these sizes
and was built. Blackwall Point was stated in the technical press to
have an output of 90 mw (30 mw per set). However in a British power
station plant performance schedule published in the Electrical Review
of 1st June 1962, the installed capacity of Blackwall Point was given
as 100.5 mw i.e. 33.5 mw per set. Presumably the original figure of
30 mw per set was nominal.

Incidentally, in the performance review Blackwall Point was quoted
as having generated for a total of 6,567 hours in 1961 with an
overall thermal efficiency of 26.66 per cent.

Keith Doyle

Keith included with his article a number of photocopies from
Electrical Review with brief mentions of the power station and some
of the statistics quoted above. They include a picture, in the issue
of 12th July 1953, showing 'the first of three turbo-alternators ..
installed at Blackwall Point Power Station which will undergo a test
run in the next few weeks. The three 30 mw generators made by English
Electric Co. will have a combined output equal to 120,000 hp and the
one installed is hoped to be in operation before the winter. The
second is expected to be completed by the end of the year and the
final set by next spring. Over 2,000 gallons of lubricating oil has
been pumped into the generators' storage tank by the Wakefield Co..
The illustration shows work in progress'.

MEETINGS AND
EVENTS

This list of meetings and events has been culled from
leaflets and notices brought to our attention.

LONDON FROM ITS BUILDINGS, Scola, (Sutton College
of Liberal Arts), St. Nicholas Way, Sutton. Fridays
1.00-3.00pm. Tel. 0181 770 6901

LETTERS

From Patrick Hills

I have a photo of HMS Thunderer which might interest you as
the last battleship built on the Thames at Bow Creek, Thames
Ironworks, 1910. Have to watch your head if you were up forward when
A-turret was training, and your eardrums if she loosed off a couple
of rounds. Come to that, the photographer might have got a good coat
of soot from B-turret! I think if I'd been the skipper I'd have
wanted to join the photographer when two rounds were fired to see
what its like when two great shells start right over you.

From Iain Lovell

I was interested to see that my account of the Siemens
Museum has aroused quite some interest. I have received a letter
from Mr.W. Ford who as you know is researching the Woolwich factory
and is anxious to trace any remnants of the Obach Library.
Regretfully I think that the books and documents not accounted for
have probably been destroyed, which is an act of utter vandalism!

I am also planning to write up my time at AEI in 1960 as a
computer programmer on the Elliott 405 there. This machine
using thermionic valves, hand soldered circuit boards and oxide
cinematograph film is as far removed from a modern computer as the
Wright brothers biplane is from a Boeing 757.

Ed. Note. - and Elliotts were a local firm, based in Lewisham.

From Ted Barr

Durham Wharf - As the factory which it served was designed
to run on coal, then I'm sure there is a connection between the coal
and the name of the wharf. In the 1920s coal supplies had become
uncertain so a switch was made to oil. In the 1930s the then
Chancellor of the Exchequer stopped an additional £1.5s 5d. on a
ton of crude oil - so it was decided to revert to coal. I saw the
boiler house change over. The colliers tied up at Angerstein Wharf
and the Southern Railway unloaded into United Glass 13 wagons, of
which there were hundreds, and shunted round to the United Glass
sidings. After the new jetty was built the colliers tied up there and
the Southern lost the business.

(Ted has also sent a number of pictures and cuttings)

The Charlton sandpit. Exactly as I remember it.

East Greenwich Gas holders. Clearly shows the flying
lifts.

Another view of the gas holders taken from the footpath
fronting the naval college. The beach exactly as I remember it as
a child and the generating station and jetty'.

Inside the generating station. Is anyone doing anything about
this place?

Flash fractionating column from Harvey's being negotiated
round Westminster Bridge (?). Note the two police motorcyclist
escorts - almost certainly the famous Triumph Twins. Typical of
loads like these were the giant propellers from Stones, Anchor and
Hope Lane. Damage to Street furniture was common and had to be
rectified and charged to the perpetrators!

The Standard in Westcombe Hill with two LGA B 'Old Bill' buses
of 48 route which ran from the Standard to Golders Green
Underground Station. The only other buses at this point were
Tilling Stevens petrol electric 75s. Woolwich Ferry to South
Croydon 'Red Deer Pub'. These had a long sign-written boards, one
each side, with the legend 'To and from Woolwich Arsenal'. The
direction sign at the Standard was gas lit and is featured in
The Rise of the Gas Industry.

John Day's electrical exploits in Vol. 2. Issue 2. remind me that
there is a very early 1 HP electric motor in the Museum at Plumstead
Road. It ran the machine tools in a small engineering works in West
Greenwich about turn of the century. I donated it to the Museum and
also gave them a catalogue of the firm's products.

From Larry Button (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)

Last November I was in London on business and took a boat down to
Greenwich. The whole area was very busy and I had a chance to visit
St. Alphege's. and Straightsmouth where my gr- gr- grandfather lived.
The people on the boat was interested in telling us about the Dome,
Tidal Barrier, etc. but I was more interested in the smell in the air
which told me there was a soapworks nearby! When my family left East
London they settled in the east end of Hamilton, Canada's largest
industrial city. They all worked at the Proctor and Gamble soap works
- no mistaking that smell!

From at least 1832 - when it appears in Pigot's Directory under
the name of Boyd - my family (Button) owned a glass and china shop at
9 High Street Woolwich. I recall this was poor, rather disreputable
area, however from studying maps I gather glass making in the area
was fairly important due to the considerable sand deposits. I have a
card indicating that in about 1907 the Button glass business was sold
to W. Weight and Co, wholesale medical bottle dealers of Glenville
Grove, New Cross, Deptford. In any event - I'd be most appreciative
of any assistance you could provide.

From Peter Marshall

You might like to look at http://www.cix.co.uk/~petermarshall/
where I've just put up the first set of pictures on a new Web site. A
few pictures from Greenwich or around. Probably quite a few
mistakes!

From Robert Hamilton

I have recently come across your Newsletters while searching the
Web for details of a serious explosion and fire at a factory
which occurred in the Greenwich/Woolwich/Erith area in the
early part of the century. My great grandfather and two of his
sons were involved. The incident was serious and the process in the
factory involved shovelling sulphur with a rubber-covered shovel. It
didn't occur during the First World War which would seem rule out the
Silvertown explosion. Could your members help?

From Iris Bryce

I would dearly love to see inside Enderby House - I worked
in the buying office which I think must be the Office building with
the decorated cable and gutta percha lintels. Enderby House was a
no-go area for the likes of me, even in 1941/2. I used to stand at my
office window and watch the Management and Scientific Staff go in
every lunch time. I think it must have been the Staff Dining Room - I
was only on the lookout for the young white coated, blonde haired lab
technician hoping he would look up and see the ravishing
teenager!

I did a broadcast a week or so ago on Eastern Regional radio - it
was called The Regeneration of East Greenwich.

From Andrew Lister

I wish to ask if you would be interested in joining a Family and
Community Historical Research network,. At present no network exists
for London and I have volunteered to try and get one started. The aim
of this letter is simply to sound you out. Please feel free to get in
touch.

Greenwich Conservation Group

- some planning applications which the group has
commented on (with thanks to Philip Binns)

Maze Hill Station - application for replacement
station.

Greenwich Pier - proposed V-berth pontoon as an
extension to the pier at downstream end. Welcomed as it
would encourage greater use of the pier.

Royal Naval College Site - new pedestrian route
between the pier and the Maritime Museum via a new
pedestrian crossing in Romney Road. Group concerned about
new openings in the listed railings and other worries around
the 'and axis' and need for a 'mirror image' on the north
side of Romney Road.

Rose Bruford College, Creek Road - demolition and
erection of new building. Group regretted that consideration
had not been given to refurbishment,

Building 2 Royal Arsenal - Change of use of Middle
Gatehouse into HQ for Greenwich Leisure. No objections. Also
building of a new car park with disabled ramp - group were
concerned at provision of so much parking and wanted
assurance that the elevation to Plumstead Road would not be
altered.

Duke of Wellington Statue, Royal Arsenal. Temporary
removal - the statue is to be broken into six sections!
Some concern about care taken with it, and future plans.
Also - what about the wall with antique ironwork of the old
Royal Laboratory which is behind it!

Clock Tower, Plumstead Common. Installation of 3
panel antennae side and rear. Group concerned that the
external appearance is not compromised.

Halfpenny Hatch Bridge. Installation of footbridge
over the Ravensbourne alongside the railway line. No
objection but group thinks the planned bridge is too
bulky.

115/117 Humber Road, SE3. Erection of ornamental
7m high observatory tower at the rear. Some concern about
impact on adjacent buildings. (This site is part of Jools
Holland's Studio complex. The tower is a copy of one of
Clough Ellis's at Portmeirion and will complement other
recent buildings erected on the site to similar designs. It
was apparently made for the 1999 Chelsea Flower Show. The
Westcombe Society's Enviorment Committee have viewed the
exceptionally detailed 'day-sheet' plans for this
application and have raised no objections as the site is
only fully visible from the adjacent Westcombe Park Station
- Web Ed.)

St.Mary's and St.Andrew's Wharves, Woolwich Road,
SE18. Change of use to residential of 189 flat plus
parking. Group welcomed retention of slipways but concern
about the height of 8-storey blocks. Hope columns from the
Museum of London store can be erected on site.

Royal Arsenal Building 7 - New electricity
sub-station in the former Carriage Department. Not enough
material available for comment.

Clockhouse Community Centre - new internal fit-out
works. Group asked for assurance that the tile picture from
the Clarence Arms will be protected.

Lovell's Wharf - The group recognises that
redevelopment of some sort is necessary on the wharf and to
bring back employment. They welcome retention of the two
cranes. They also ask for retention of the Customs and
Excise Letter Box, and the unusual clock face on the
internal buildings. They are concerned about the height of
the buildings in relation to the Ballast Quay conservation
area. They think the details are unimaginative and the
materials questionable. They would like to know the
potential of bringing people to the hotel. They asked for an
archaeological survey to record the ice well, sites of lime
kilns and coke ovens. They think there should be some
community gain for the loss of Lovell House (which is in use
an an office block for Greenwich Education Office
staff).

Requests for information

..are there still two concrete anchor posts on Shooters
Hill for a vast great, but never built, bridge over the
Thames?

....is there an old railway tunnel under the Woolwich
Road in Charlton, where mushrooms are grown?

.....if the Westcombe Park Station tunnel is replaced by
a bridge - do we press for iron work there to be
retained?

Call for Papers for TICCH2000. International
Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage,
30th August - 7th September 2000, Imperial College, London
and tours.
Details: 01223 323437

A MIRACLE - when Ted Barr posted off his letter
he enclosed copies of the picture postcards mentioned.
Sadly, when it arrived, the envelope was empty - with a note
that it had been 'damaged by machinery' (on the front was
proudly emblazened the fact that Leeds is now a fully
automated Post Office!). Time went by. Then, 6 weeks later,
Woodlands Local History Library received an envelope from
the Northern Rock Insurance Office in Newcastle. Inside it,
with a compliments slip, were Ted's post cards!!

Greater London Archaeology

The annual summary of the Greater London Archaeology
Advisory Service contains details of work on the following
sites of interest in Greenwich:

Congratulations to the new look GLIAS NEWSLETTER
under a new editor, Robert Mason. The June 1999 edition
contains an article on 'More about Deptford Gas
Works' and a contribution from Bob Carr - 'Thames
Sold Off and Name Changed'. This refers to the MV
Thames, one of the ships which took sewage sludge from
Crossness to dump in the Black Deep,and which is now
redundant. Thames was the flagship and is now, says
Bob, the Anastasios IV registered at S¹o Tome Principe near
Libreville in West Africa. She left London to be refitted in
Greece on 28th April.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED

KENT UNDERGROUND RESEARCH GROUP - the current newsletter
contains an appeal for wells. If anyone knows of one contact Hugh
Farrer (01622 764915). He would also like to know of anyone who is an
expert on dating brickwork.

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS (no less) contained an article by
Iain Sinclair - 'All Change. This Train is cancelled' - about
how to get to the Dome. Iain Sinclair is a novelist known for his
descriptions of east London - and he has not missed out on Greenwich
and the history of the peninsula 'the inhabitants of the peninsula
were feral inbreeds comfortable with the maggoty underside of history
.... ammunition manufacturers, the skull hammering intoxification of
the South Metropolitan (later East Greenwich) Gas Works .... the
Molochs in workers cottages and burrows.. mutated as they came to
terms with the by products of the gas industry; the tar; the sulphate
of ammonia; the trains; the phenol; the never ending noise (grinding
thumping whistling, clanking),. Smells that have mixed and mingled
for generations in increasingly complex chemical combinations gift
unwary tourists with stomach-churning hallucinations, flashbacks to
ancient horrors, dizzying premonitions of catastrophe....'.
(blimey!)

ELTHAM SOCIETY MAY 1999 NEWSLETTER contains many articles
about life in Eltham - including a history of Eltham and District
Motor Cycle Club - the Chairman of which was a test rider for
Matchless.

BYGONE KENT Vol. 20 No.6. contains an article 'The First
Greenwich Gas Works. How it fell down' together with a letter from
Brian Sturt ('the GLIAS gasman') filling in some of the gaps in the
first instalment of this series on Greenwich's early gas works which
had been in No.5. Vol.20 No.7. contains 'Greenwich Railway Gas
Works'.

WOOLWICH ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY NEWSLETTER for June featured
an article ' Our trip on the Jubilee Line' which could, quite
honestly, be enough to out you off it for ever and ever. 2 _ hours
underground and then told to walk back along the track! Oh - it was a
special practice for an emergency (still, rather them than me).

GREENWICH SOCIETY NEWSLETTER. The Society is contributing
funds for a study of using the Tunnel Refineries silo as a viewing
platform. The silo contains a lift and a platform but a conversion
would, of course, cost money.

The Summer edition of English Partnership's Greenwich Peninsula
News has fluttered through the letterbox as I write. On page 2 is
the plan for the Greenwich Pavilion 'a dramatic eye catching steel
and glass structure .... it will house a dedicated exhibition about
development of the Dome, the history of Greenwich and the
Peninsula.....!'

BOOKS ON GREENWICH INDUSTRY

Still available

** Mary Mills. Greenwich Marsh. The 300 Years Before
the Dome, £9.95 by post from 24 Humber Road, SE3.
£8.50 if you call at the house! Cheques to M.Wright

MORE OF IAIN LOVELL'S MEMORIES OF THE
SIEMENS' MUSEUM

The First Wages Book was very simple by comparison with its
modern equivalent. The only details entered were the name, trade, and
rate of pay of each worker. For each week there was a column for the
hours worked, and another for the payment made, with a total. None of
the many deductions, bonuses etc made today applied. Although
operatives theoretically worked a 60 hour week, in fact they were
paid only for the hours worked if there was insufficient work for the
60 hours. Overtime was paid at the same rate as normal pay. Rates
varied from about 4/ to 24/- - a week, depending on the trade of the
worker, quite good pay for the time. The only trade I remember was
that of 'Mechanician'.

The Letter Book was the office record of every letter sent
out. All letters were hand written, and there was no method of
copying them, apart from making a hand written copy in the letter
book.

There were a number of periodicals from around the turn of the
century, many printed in German. A title I remember was "The
Tramcar and Street Railway World". Another, printed in German in
1898/9, consisted entirety of advertisements for rubber products
(Gummiwaren). Of these, about 25% were for rubber insulated power and
communications cables. The remainder were, rather surprisingly for
the time, for contraceptives. It was lavishly illustrated
throughout.

Unwisely as it turned out, I brought in a slim paperback biography
of Joseph Swan which had been given to me as a boy, and contained
quite a lot of useful information. Dr. Sutton seized on this with
great enthusiasm, and wanted a copy Enquiries revealed that it was
out of print. Meanwhile, he said, he had told Dr. Aldington (the
Managing Director) about it, and he also was very keen to borrow and
read it. Although reluctant I felt it unwise to refuse to lend it.
Although I clearly wrote my name and address on the title page it was
never returned.

In the course of research we also came across a number of bizarre
anecdotes. Werner Siemens, in his autobiographical notes, described
how he was arrested and imprisoned for acting as a second in a duel
(socially this was considered a perfectly respectable, indeed
honourable activity, but in law was treated as complicity in murder).
The conditions were not too harsh, for he was allowed to conduct
experiments on electro-deposition of gold in prison. The governor
took a keen interest in this, and saw the potential for making money.
Without his permission, he campaigned for Siemens' early release,
with the intention of acquiring his apparatus and laboratory notes
when they were abandoned in the prison. Siemens was put in the
strange position of campaigning for his own continued detention until
he could get his work removed. In this he was successful, and set up
the electro-plating business on his release.

We also learned that the first floodlit football match in history
was played on Clapham Common in the l880's. There was an arc lamp
behind each goal, one powered by a Bunsen battery, the other by a
steam powered Siemens W40 magneto electric machine.

Another anecdote, which particularly intrigued Dr. Sutton, was
that of the Implacable. Soon after the invention of the
incandescent electric lamp, the Government decided to commission a
new warship. Siemens Brothers saw the opportunity to sell electric
lighting, and a salesman was invited to the Admiralty, where he
demonstrated several bulbs to a group of senior naval officers,
including Admiral Fisher. At the end of the demonstration he was
asked what would happen if the bulb were broken by enemy bombardment.
Surely fragments of the white hot filament would detonate any
explosives if they came into contact? The salesman replied that as
soon as the carbon filament met the air it would instantly vaporise
harmlessly. He added that in that respect it would be far safer than
gas or oil lighting, since there was no question of fuel escaping and
igniting. Then, at a pre~arranged signal, a sailor entered the room
carrying a tea tray, on which was a pile of gun cotton, liberally
garnished with gunpowder, and a hammer. As the officers all moved
away till their backs were to the walls of the room, the salesman was
invited to hold a lit bulb six inches above the explosive mixture and
shatter it with the hammer. This he did with no apparent sign of
fear, and there was no explosion. After a tense silence of about
twenty seconds, Admiral Fisher said, quietly but resolutely, "we
shall have this lighting aboard the Implacable".

Last year the Council produced a 'Riverside Audit' -
GIHS and other bodies were very critical of this document.
As a result, when Ben van Bruggen was appointed by the
Waterfront Development Partnership we asked him to come and
speak - and subsequently have arranged a series of walks to
look at the riverside for ourselves. A small sub-committee
was set up and - as a result - three members: Mary Mills,
Sue Bullevant and Hugh Lyon have been 'brainstorming' a new
audit with Ben.

We would be very grateful to hear from anyone who
feels that they have particular knowledge of any one - or
more - riverside sites. We need to be able to draw up a
database of who has particular information or where it could
be obtained from. Please get in touch.

Such a database of information is likely to be very
useful - since it would be made available to Planners who
would be then obliged to refer to the experts on any
particular site in the future.

Its not too late - even now - to salvage something of
our historic waterfront.

Riverside Wharves

The following article from our Chair, Jack Vaughan, was
destined for the last Newsletter - but was received too late to be
included. It refers to an article detailed in that issue about the
Greenwich Society's stand on riverside wharves:

Last month's extract from the Greenwich Society's
Newsletter was not only astonishing, but highly revealing. This
society reminds me of a submarine working in deep waters,
occasionally firing off a missile, invariably at the wrong target.
When a cause for concern appears, they are nowhere to be seen. Such
was the case when our beautiful and much loved Neo-Paxton red
telephone boxes were rooted out and sold to America. It is worth
noting that other societies in South London conservation areas
managed to preserve their boxes, suitably updated within as part of
the indigenous streetscape.

On the issue of the Greenwich Waterfront they have really
'come out'. Their policy statement is no less than a declaration of
war on those surviving wharves and boatyards who have gritted their
teeth through the recession only to be kicked in the teeth by those
who should take pride in our maritime trading links.

The Greenwich Society cites the new estate by Fairview Homes
as 'the way forward'. Really? They also point out the excess of
dogs droppings on the river path as part of the case for
redevelopment. Which streets would they nominate in Greenwich that
are magically free of this nuisance.

Is their vision of the waterfront a sea of houses built with
facades to resemble pseudo wharves punctuated occasionally by very
expensive and highly pretentious sculpture.

There is a staggering arrogance about their presumptions.I well
remember when the Ashburnham Triangle Association was formed
in the early 1970s, how it was censoriously condemned by the
Greenwich Society for usurping their powers.

We in the industrial history society must put the counter view to
the Regeneration Committee of the Council. Our deep water
berths are a golden asset and to allow them to fall into the hands of
the developers would be unforgivable. The PLA Annual Report shows an
increase in river freight and all good planning must take the long
term view.

Our wharves were rightly given protected status, and we must
ensure that this protection continues by fighting the propaganda of
the Greenwich Society tooth and nail. To lose our working waterfront
would make a mockery of the title 'Maritime Greenwich'.

Jack Vaughan

Jack also reviewed the talk given by Ben Van Bruggen to GIHS
this spring on new initiatives on the Greenwich riverside:

Representing the Greenwich Waterfront Development Partnership, Ben
van Bruggen outlined briefly the structure and aims of this not very
well known organisation. As it came over to myself the main thread
indicated the negation of industry in the future of the Borough in
favour of the heavenly twins of Tourism and Business. At the Woolwich
end the only reference made was the the Royal Arsenal, It has to be
said that the take up of the much heralded 'business opportunities'
on that site is not promising.

There was considerable support from members in favour of some
reinstatement of industry to utilise the hard-won technical skills of
the local population. The principal industrial type of activity at
the Greenwich end seems to be the handling of aggregates, etc.

There seems to be little reference at Council level at the
disappearance of 'real' industry or moves regarding restoration of
the same. Regeneration seems to rest on riverside walks,
pedestrianisation, street furniture, restaurants, entertainments,
etc. There is a reliance on various financial handouts but no sort of
underpinning to get a return to a sustainable industry-based
economy,.

Lovell's Wharf

The news broke some weeks ago about a planning application for
Lovell's Wharf. This wharf is at the end of Pelton Road - the first
site on the final section of the Greenwich Riverside Walk before the
Dome. It is a 'protected' wharf, declared so by the last Government
as the folly of turning every riverside site over to housing became
painfully apparent. The wharf was used until the 1980s by Shaw
Lovell as part of their metal transhipment operation and since
has been used occasionally for storage and transhipment of large
items. Two cranes remain on site and, although once a common sight,
they have now become a major feature of the Greenwich riverside.
Historically the site has dealt with coal, lime, metal and gravel for
the past 150 years. There is probably an ice house on site built for
a commercial ice company at the turn of the century.

The plan is for a 274 bed hotel, 143 holiday apartments, and 530
feet of commercial space - shops, offices, pub and car parking.
Although it is a largish site this still feels like a lot of things
to fit on it.

Since the application has become public many of our members have
rung to urge the Society to oppose this scheme. Some of them are in
touch with a wide range of other bodies in the hope that they will
oppose it - the London Rivers Association, the Council, the Port of
London Authority, the Government Office for London, and others. All
say that they think it is the thin end of the wedge. It is also clear
that many local people in Pelton Road and the surrounding area oppose
the scheme.

On the other side the scheme is 'broadly welcomed' by the
Greenwich Society who see it as regenerating a vacant site and
providing jobs.

It is likely that the planning application will be determined
before the next GIHS meeting but the committee would be prepared to
make a submission if the feelings of enough members are made known to
us (in writing if possible).

It appears that the two cranes are to be retained as part of the
planning application - although of course they will no be able to
work. They are relatively modern although exhaustive enquiries have
not led to the discovery of any hard evidence on their age. One of
them - the 'big' one downriver - was extensively rebuilt only in the
mid-1980s. Although it is unusual for machinery like this to get
statutory protection the GIHS Committee hope that our members will
agree to the decision to try to get these cranes listed. At one time
the London riverfront was full of cranes like these and they were a
very common sight. We understand that such 'Scotch Derricks'
still stand at Commercial Pier Wharf in Rotherhithe and at Diespeker
Wharf on the Regent's Canal - two where there were once many
hundred.

Over the past months an attempt has been made to research the
background to these cranes - with very little luck! We have had the
support and help of a number of people who worked on the wharf and
members of Lovell's management. A number of crane manufacturers and
professionals have been extremely helpful. Despite all this help we
have very little hard evidence on the their age and typology. It is
known that one of them was brought to London from Dublin where it had
been used on Custom House Quay. We are still very anxious to trace
the company who renovated the cranes in 1987 in the hope that they
might have retained some records. Also of great help would be anybody
who made safety, or other, inspections of the cranes.

The site itself dates from around 1840 when there were limekilns
and coal delivery apparatus there. We are urging that any site
investigation is done by someone with knowledge of industrial
structures rather an archaeologist and/or a soil analyst.

A very short booklet on the LOVELL'S WHARF site and its
background can be made available at cost.
Please ring Mary on 0181 858 9482.

A number of 'serials' have had to be held over in this issue for
lack of space - this includes John Day's Arsenal Memories and
the History of Deptford. They will continue to be featured in
forthcoming issues.

This newsletter is produced by Mary Mills for the Greenwich
Industrial History Society. Opinions expressed in this newsletter are
those of individual authors or the editor and not those of the
Society as a whole.

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